Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T03:19:47.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Family-friendly benefits?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2014

Ana Ferrer  and
Lynda Gagné
Ana Ferrer*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Lynda Gagné
Affiliation:
School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Data from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey (1999–2002) is used to assess the take-up of family-friendly benefits provided by employers. We distinguish benefit availability from the actual use of benefits and are able to account for worker selection into firms. We find that selection is important to understand the take-up of family-friendly benefits and that there is little difference between genders regarding benefit use. Overall, it seems that some family-friendly benefits (like flexible time) are relatively little help in the management of work-family conflict, while others (like childcare or eldercare) are unavailable to those who would benefit from them the most.

Keywords

work and family conflictfamily-friendly benefitstake-up of employer benefits
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 721 - 741
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, J., De Cieri, H. (2008). Influences on the provision of work-life benefits: Management and employee perspectives. Journal of Management and Organization, 14(3), 303–322.Google Scholar
Anderson, P. M., Levine, P. B. (1999). Child care and mothers’ employment decisions. NBER Working Paper No. 7058.Google Scholar
Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., Berg, P., Dallenberg, A. (2002). Shared work, valued care: New norms for organizing market work and unpaid care work. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Averett, S., Hotchkiss, J. (1995). The probability of receiving benefits at different hours of work. The American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 85(2), 276–280.Google Scholar
Baker, M., Gruber, J., Milligan, K. (2005). Universal childcare, maternal labour supply, and family well-being. NBER Working Paper No. 11832.Google Scholar
Bardoel, E. A., Moss, S., Smyrnios, K., Tharenou, P. (1999). Employee characteristics associated with the provision of work-family policies and programs. International Journal of Manpower, 20, 563–577.Google Scholar
Blank, R. M. (1990). Are part-time jobs bad jobs? In G. Burtless (Ed.), A future of lousy jobs? (pp. 123–164). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Budd, J. W., Mumford, K. A. (2004). Trade unions and family friendly work policies in Britain. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 57(2), 204–222.Google Scholar
Budd, J. W., Mumford, K. A. (2006). Family-friendly work practices in Britain: Availability and perceived accessibility. Human Resource Management, 45(1), 23–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caputo, R. (2000). Race and marital history as correlates of women's access to family-friendly employee benefits. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 21(4), 365–385.Google Scholar
Colley, L. (2010). Central policies, local discretion: A review of employee access to work-life balance arrangements in a public sector agency. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 36(2), 214–237.Google Scholar
Curry, J. (2004). The take-up of social benefits. NBER Working Paper No. 10488.Google Scholar
Deb, P. (2007). Weak identification in models with binary endogenous regressors. SUNY, Hunter College Working paper series.Google Scholar
De Cieri, H., Holmes, B., Abbott, J., Pettit, T. (2005). Achievements and challenges for work/life balance strategies in Australian organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(1), 90–103.Google Scholar
Eaton, S. (2003). If you can use them: Flexibility policies, organizational commitment, and perceived performance. Industrial Relations, 42(2), 145–167.Google Scholar
Federal Labour Standards Review (http://www.fls_ntf.gc.ca/en/bg_01.asp)Google Scholar
Glass, J., Fujimoto, T. (1995). Employer characteristics and the provision of family responsive policies. Work & Occupation, 22(4), 380–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, J., Riley, L. (1998). Family responsive policies and employee retention following childbirth. Social Forces, 76(4), 1401–1435.Google Scholar
Golden, L. (2001). Flexible work schedules: What are we trading off to get them? Monthly Labor Review, 124(3), 50–67.Google Scholar
Golden, L. (2008). Limited access: Disparities in flexible work schedules and work-at-home. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 29, 86–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gornick, J., Meyers, M., Ross, K. (1996). Supporting the employment of mothers: Policy variation across 14 Welfare States. Luxembourg Income Studies Working Paper No. 139.Google Scholar
Gray, H. (2002). Family-friendly working: What a performance! An analysis of the relationship between the availability of family-friendly policies and establishment performance. CEP Discussion Papers No. 0529, London School of Economics and Political Science.Google Scholar
Gray, M., Tudball, J. (2003). Family-friendly work practices: Differences within and between workplaces. The Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(3), 269–291.Google Scholar
Haddock, S. A., Zimmerman, T. S., Ziemba, S., Lyness, K. (2006). Practices of dual earner couples successfully balancing work and family. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27(2), 207–234.Google Scholar
Heckman, J. (1974). Shadow prices, market wages, and labor supply. Econometrica, 42(4), 679–694.Google Scholar
Heywood, J., Siebert, W. S., Xiangdong, W. (2007). The implicit wage costs of family friendly work practices. Oxford Economic Papers, 59(2), 275–300.Google Scholar
Kahlenberg, R. K. (2005). Dad-Friendly Benefits Must Be Nurtured: Corporate Culture, Not Official Policy, Still Governs at Work. The Washington Post, 12 June 2005.Google Scholar
LaRochelle-Côté, S., Gougeon, P., Pinard, D. (2009). Changes in parental work time and earnings. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 10(10), 5–16.Google Scholar
Marshall, K. (2009). The family work week. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 10(4), 5–13.Google Scholar
McDonald, P., Brown, K., Bradley, L. (2005). Explanations for the provision-utilisation gap in work-family policy. Women in Management Review, 20(1), 37–55.Google Scholar
Moffitt, R. (1983). An economic model of welfare stigma. American Economic Review, 73(5), 1023–1035.Google Scholar
Parkes, L., Langford, P. (2008). Work-life balance or work-life alignment? A test of the importance of work-life balance for employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations. Journal of Management and Organization, 14(3), 267–284.Google Scholar
Ruhm, C. J. (1998). How well do parents with young children combine work and family life?. NBER Working Paper No. 10247.Google Scholar
Secret, M. (2000). Identifying the family, job, and workplace characteristics of employees who use work-family benefits. Family Relations, 49(2), 217–225.Google Scholar
Solomon, C. (1994). Work family's failing grade: Why today's initiatives are not enough. Personnel Journal, 73(5), 73–87.Google Scholar
Tausig, M., Fenwick, R. (2001). Unbinding time: Alternate work schedules and work-life balance. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 22, 101–119, 207–234.Google Scholar
US Department of Labor (2005) (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf)Google Scholar
van de Ven, W., van Praag, B. (1981). The demand for deductibles in private health insurance: A probit model with sample selection. Journal of Econometrics, 17(2), 229–252.Google Scholar
Visser, F., Williams, L. (2006). Work-life balance: Rhetoric versus reality? An independent report commissioned by UNISON, The Work Foundation (http://www.theworkfoundation.com/Assets/PDFs/un ison.pdf)Google Scholar